The new Jordan Leggett: Tight end emerging as a complete player

Clemson tight end Jordan Leggett (16) celebrates after scoring a touchdown againstj Miami in the 1st quarter in Miami Gardens, Fla. on Saturday. Leggett set a Clemson record for most consecutive games with a touchdown catch by a tight end.

Clemson tight end Jordan Leggett (16) runs with teammates on the field before kickoff with N.C. State in Raleigh.

Clemson tight end Jordan Leggett (16) celebrates with offensive tackle Joe Gore (73) after scoring a touchdown in the 1st quarter against Miami in Miami Gardens, Fla. on Saturday. Leggett set a Clemson record for most consecutive games with a touchdown catch by a tight end.

A limited contributor in each of his first two seasons as a Tiger, Jordan Leggett has emerged to become one of the top playmakers on the Clemson football team’s offense in 2015. Both he and his coaches agree that his growth — and in turn, his increased role — has resulted from maturity and an improved work ethic.

While Leggett had his moments in the first half of his collegiate career, catching 12 passes for 176 yards and two touchdowns as a freshman in 2013 and 14 passes for 161 yards and one touchdown in 2014, he failed to give Clemson consistency. He missed time in both seasons with injuries, was suspended for one game as a freshman due to a violation of team rules and developed an unflattering moniker, “Lazy Leggett,” for his less-than-stellar practice habits.

“He’s one of those guys his first couple years that was kind of half-in, he was a sometimer,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. “Sometimes he was committed, sometimes he wasn’t. Sometimes he practiced hard, sometimes he didn’t. Sometimes he wanted to be great, sometimes he didn’t.”

Eight games into his junior year, Leggett has already set career-highs in receiving production with 17 receptions, 204 receiving yards and most notably, six touchdowns.

“He just, like a lot of guys, has matured and finally realized that if it was going to happen, he’s going to have to make it happen,” Swinney said. “Nobody was going to give him anything and you have to pay the price.”

Between Clemson’s Sept. 17 win at Louisville and Oct. 24 win at Miami, Leggett became the first tight end in Clemson history to score a receiving touchdown in five consecutive games, breaking the record of four games that had previously been set by K.D. Dunn in 1983.

While Leggett is only fourth on the team in total catches and sixth on the team in receiving yards, he leads the team in scoring receptions. In fact, Leggett’s six touchdowns tie him with Western Kentucky’s Tyler Higbee and South Alabama’s Gerald Everett for the most among all tight ends in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

A high school wide receiver who is listed on Clemson’s roster at 6’5” and 255 pounds, Leggett is a great athlete for his size. That combination, as it creates mismatches in the red zone with linebackers and safeties, has made it possible for Leggett to emerge as a go-to target near the goal line.

“The red zone is pretty much where people like to play you man-to-man,” Leggett said. “So we just like to choose our best mismatch and sometimes, or most of the time, I’m that mismatch.

“I feel like I’m faster than most linebackers out there in college football,” Leggett added. “Safeties are smaller than I am, so I can just use my body and size to put them behind me and get the ball in front of me.”

Described by his high school coach as being an honest and genuine communicator, Leggett readily admits that he wants to have the ball in his hands as much as possible. In making the transition to playing tight end at Clemson, Leggett acknowledged that he has not always given maximum effort as a blocker.

That has changed in 2015, and as a result, Leggett has become a staple in Clemson’s offensive lineup who currently leads all tight ends and receivers on the team in snaps played this year.

“At wide receiver, I didn’t have to block nobody, all I had to do was catch the ball,” Leggett said. “Nobody loves to block, but I get the job done and it helps the team out.”

Although it might still not be his favorite part of the game, Leggett has learned to take pride in helping pave the way for his teammates to make plays.

“I love when everybody gets a chance to score and touch the ball so whenever I can help Wayne Gallman or any of the other running backs get in the end zone, I feel good about myself,” Leggett said.

Jay Walls, Leggett’s coach at Navarre High School in Navarre, Fla., disputes Leggett’s suggestion that blocking was not a requirement for him at his high school position. Where he agrees with Leggett, though, is that the junior has figured out how he needs to apply himself to succeed in the Atlantic Coast Conference and at the Division I level.

“On the high school level, Jordan could get by on just athletic ability, just because he was so big and so fast,” Walls said. “And I think that kind of just affected the way he approached things because he knew really, at any time, if I really want to, I can dominate this play or this situation or this person.

“He wasn’t always real motivated to really push himself to be just an outstanding blocker,” Walls added. “From what I’ve seen on TV, watching him play, he has made improvements with his game as far as blocking and trying to be more physical.”

Leggett’s readiness to elevate his game this year became evident to Swinney well before the season began.

“He just really attacked the offseason in a complete different matter, and same thing with spring practice and summer workouts,” Swinney said. “He’s really become a leader for us. I think he just has this confidence now, he can kind of see the light at the tunnel and he’s confident that he can be really great at this position.”

Leggett was recently one of 35 players chosen for the midseason watch list for the John Mackey Award, who is given annually to the best tight end in college football. Midway through the season on Oct. 20, ESPN.com’s Mark Schlabach ranked Leggett as the No. 4 most likely candidate to ultimately earn that recognition.

Ultimately aspiring to play professional football, Leggett will have options between returning to Clemson for his senior year or declaring for the 2016 NFL draft. That said, Leggett confirmed last week that he will not make any decisions on his future until after his junior season is over.

“I feel like everybody that plays college football tries to go to the NFL but I’m just doing everything I can while I still have the moment to,” Leggett said. “We’ll just see how it ends up at the end of the season.”

For now, Leggett’s focus is on continuing to become a more well-rounded player and make as many plays as he can — both as a receiver and as a blocker — for the rest of Clemson’s 2015 campaign.

“Just going to keep doing what I’m doing, just keep being Jordan Leggett,” the tight end said.

Hailing from northwest Florida, Leggett is motivated this week by the prospect of getting his first win in three years against Florida State when the Tigers host the Seminoles, looking for their first win since 2011 in the annual matchup between the teams, at Memorial Stadium at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. But while Leggett made visits to Tallahassee, he says he never had a desire to attend Florida State despite its relative proximity to home.

“I felt like they only offered me because Clemson did because they offered me the day after Clemson,” Leggett said of Florida State. “Just because (Clemson was) my first offer, they’re the one that basically took a chance and believed in me.”